In Poll, G.O.P. Slips as a Friend of Religion

NY Times' Terrorist Tip Sheet ^ | August 25, 2006 | LAURIE GOODSTEIN

[neverdem]

A new poll shows that fewer Americans view the Republican Party as “friendly to religion” than a year ago, with the decline particularly steep among Catholics and white evangelical Protestants — constituencies at the core of the Republicans’ conservative Christian voting bloc.

The survey found that the proportion of Americans who say the Republican Party is friendly to religion fell 8 percentage points in the last year, to 47 percent from 55 percent. Among Catholics and white evangelical Protestants, the decline was 14 percentage points.

The Democratic Party suffers from the perception of an even more drastic religion deficit, but that is not new. Just 26 percent of poll respondents said the Democratic Party was friendly to religion, down from 29 percent last year.

The telephone poll, conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, was conducted July 6-19 among 2,003 adults. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus three to four percentage points, depending on the question.

The survey examined Americans’ attitudes on such topics as politics, science, the Bible, global warming and Israel. But the most startling change, said John Green, senior fellow in religion and American politics at the Pew Forum, was the perception of the Republican Party by its core constituency.

“It’s unclear how directly this will translate into voting behavior,” Mr. Green said, “but this is a baseline indicator that religious conservatives see the party they’ve chosen to support as less friendly to religion than they used to.”

He speculated that religious conservatives could feel betrayed that some Republican politicians recently voted to back stem cell research, and that a Republican-dominated Congress failed to pass an amendment outlawing same-sex marriage.

“At the minimum, there will be less good will toward...

[neodad]

So they're going to vote for the Dems? Most Republicans are not happy with the squishy RINO's, but they'll never vote Democrat.

[ElkGroveDan]

I smell a rat.

[Darkwolf377]

Stupidest...poll...ever.

[hsalaw]

religious conservatives could feel betrayed that some Republican politicians recently voted to back stem cell research, and that a Republican-dominated Congress failed to pass an amendment outlawing same-sex marriage

Stem cell research is a problem for me, but I think outlawing homosexual marriage is a state issue, not a federal issue. That said, and even though I'm as disgusted by RINOs as the next person, no way would I EVER vote for a dem. The RINOs are wishy-washy, spendthrifts, and annoying; the dems would destroy us.

[Welike ike]

Typical. A NY Times poll bashing Christians and Republicans wriiten by a Jewish woman. Great this is not biased.

[FlingWingFlyer]

This is satire, right Laurie? ROTFL!

[no dems]

What do you expect? The GOP treats the Religious Right like the Dems treat Blacks. They take their vote for granted.

Committed Christians are a little fed up with the fact that we've had control of the White House and both Houses of Congress for 6 years and we still have abortion and the GOP is just as corrupt as the Dems, or moreso. The "Christian Coalition" thrust Ralph Reed into the political arena and he gets in bed with Jack Abramhoff right off the bat.........

If there were more Bob Casey Jr.s in the Dem Party, there would be more Republicans in trouble than Rick Santorum.

[slowhand520]

The Slimes will obviously take the anti GOP slant. I like this tid bit:

"The Democratic Party suffers from the perception of an even more drastic religion deficit, but that is not new. Just 26 percent of poll respondents said the Democratic Party was friendly to religion, down from 29 percent last year."

[Freedom4US]

I wouldn't believe a poll such as this in any event.

[andy58-in-nh]

The Pew Charitable Trusts represent a multi-million dollar source of funding for an extensive list of left-wing organizations and interest groups. Whenever you see the name "Pew" - you can safely assume there is a left/socialist agenda behind it. FReepmail me if you'd like more details.

[Darkwolf377]

Having a Christian report on the poll would be just as biased--would it be unbiased to have a Muslim report on a poll about Muslims? One can be unbiased (or biased) whatever one's religious or ethnic background. I see no evidence that the woman being Jewish is an issue.

The bias is in the retarded poll itself. I can imagine the questions on this poll leading up to "So is the GOP friendly to religion?" What a stupid, useless poll question, keeping in line with the MSMs use of polls to create news where there is none.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"A new poll shows that fewer Americans view the Republican Party as “friendly to religion” than a year ago, with the decline particularly steep among Catholics and white evangelical Protestants — constituencies at the core of the Republicans’ conservative Christian voting bloc. '

Sort of like those White Catholics in Bahhstan and the evangelical Christians who are frequently visited by Kerry and Company.

I put no faith in this article.

[Muleteam1]

>>Just 26 percent of poll respondents said the Democratic Party was friendly to religion, down from 29 percent last year. <<

Hmmm. I was not aware that satanism was such a large group.

[expatpat]

They are so short of good news that this has to suffice.

[jveritas]

As 99% of the polls this is another meaningless stupid polls and the reason is that according to this same poll only 26% believe that the democrats are religious friendly. Case closed.

[moonman]

Catholics are wishy-washy in politics. Majority have traditional voted for DemonRats up and until the Reagan era. I have no time for Catholics or any denomination members who resort back to the Stupid Party.

[itsahoot]

So they're going to vote for the Dems? Most Republicans are not happy with the squishy RINO's, but they'll never vote Democrat.

They are betting your farm on it, and you may well lose it.

[Uncle Hal]

Notice how the headline is negative towards the GOP. In the body of the article you read that support for the Democrats on this issue also slipped. The MSM, if given a choice, will always bash the Republicans in their headline. In many cases when you read the article it is just as bad, or even worse, for the Democrats.

[Polonius]

For religious conservatives, the choice is between a party that is somewhat sympathetic to their views and policy goals, and a party that is almost completely hostile to their views and policy goals. The choice should be easy.